littlecrunchy190 wrote: »

I was doing keto for 2 weeks before my A1C that turned out to be 8.5 and so doctor put me on metformin. Started that med on day 26 of keto and up till then was feeling amazing! Sharp mind, energy, more spoons! Taking metformin.... dizzy, no energy, fibro fog.... my numbers are not too low.... tell me these side effects go away? How long? I can't work or function like this. No belly issues thankfully.

Congrats! There are a lot of individual differences in how people react to different diets, but for many of us T2Ds, keto has been the key to getting BG levels under control.

Eating the conventional heart-"smart" low-fat, high-carb, low-sodium diet kept my BG high for years, but the combination of metformin, keto, restricted calories, and occasional intermittent fasting (for when my BG starts to creep up) has gotten me close to non-diabetic BG levels. I started with A1c over 10, and now it hovers around 5, a year and a half after switching to keto and maintaining net carbs around 30g per day. (Other blood work has also improved.)

If your insurance is good, you may be able to ditch generic metformin for the brand name Glucophage. I didn't tolerate 2 of the 20+ generics on the market, and my endocrinologist agreed to fill out the insurance paperwork for brand Glucophage XR. This completely cleared up my horrible GI issues. I wouldn't be surprised if a cheap generic were part of the problem.

However, in your first month of keto, a lot of things are in flux. Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances - especially sodium and magnesium deficiencies - can make you feel very blah as you shed water and the junk hanging around in your fat cells, which you're starting to burn through as you become fat-adapted. I didn't raise my daily sodium intake from the standard 2-3g to 5-6g until I'd been on keto for over a month, and it made a huge difference in how I felt.

If you're into keto long-term, I'd highly recommend joining the Low-Carber Daily Group on MFP:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

There are many active threads daily and many members with T2D, thyroid, autoimmune and vascular issues. Not only is a lot of knowledge exchanged there, but it's also a very supportive and friendly group. (That's where I picked up the info and research underlying recommendations to increase sodium and magnesium.)

FYI, keto videos by Drs. Phinney and Volek on the JumpstartMD Youtube channel are very informative, and the full interview is broken into short segments by topic for easy reference.

Good luck!

jphilli1979 wrote: »

Metformin made me so sick! For three months I had daily diarrhea and threw up nearly every night. But I did lose some weight and it lowered my A1C. Now I've used a few other medications, but they don't seem to be working.

See the note above on brand name Glucophage vs. generic Metformin. I had WWIII replaying daily in my GI system - completely gone after dumping the generics.

KenSmith108 wrote: »

4 x 500mg generic Metformin

Ha. You outfoxed the varmint!

KenSmith108 wrote: »

RalfLott wrote: »

Ha. You outfoxed the varmint!

To think it only took me 33 years

Bad timing on our part - the dangnable malady hit us during the accursed low-fat decades.

believeit66 wrote: »

One reason for low energy on metformin is that it depletes B12. I take 5000micrograms B12 a day (pill) and it helps.

There's a cheap blood test for B12, so no reason docs shouldn't test everyone on Metformin. Some people are unable to absorb oral B12 and may need injections if their level is low....

I assumed my B12 would be way low, so I dutifully started taking 5mg/day. Imagine my surprise when the blood test came back double the high end of the standard range.

Turns out, according to Dr. Bernstein, it's only a small % of diabetics whose B12 really drops on Metformin. But since no one could give me any reason not to err on the high side (never heard of B12 poisoning!), I still take 2mg,which keeps me near the upper end.